Comments • Just how much more can the market bear.

citrus (1 year ago) #27820418So, naturally, Bandai pushes more web exclusives and, fortunately, is also increasing overseas access to Premium Bandai web store.
Thanks for the lengthy info. Can you tell me how can I access the premium webstore from europe, and how can I order my toku, precure, shf, a.g.p. figures and dx toys? How's the shipping? Still 40+ bucks?

As anime/manga has become more lucrative recently, more parties are involved at every level of production, and that means merchandise profits are divided between more pockets. That's a contributing factor to increasing prices.

Copyright holders are also increasingly aware of the inelastic demand for popular franchises, and will thus price accordingly to maximize the profit for every product. (And when products cost a lot of money to develop, fattening the margins on each one makes sense.)

nyugvo6 (1 year ago) #27818608This is also the reason why bandai went full p-bandai lately.

That's not exactly true. Bandai has widened their copyright portfolios a lot in the last few years (especially Star Wars), but they haven't significantly increased their production capacity (e.g. all Bandai Hobby products still come from the one factory in Shizuoka). The only way to produce a more diverse range of products without exceeding production capacity is to control production quantities more tightly.

Web exclusives allow Bandai to pocket more revenues, sure, but more importantly, it allows Bandai to space a new product through several production cycles, rather than printing all the anticipated demand during the initial release period. This puts less strain on the production line, because fewer production line changes are necessary on average.

For example: One machine can print a product over four months of release cycles, before switching to the next product. To meet the same quantity, four machines can print the same product for only one month, and then all four machines change to the next product. The downtime due to production line changes is reduced 75% by keeping only one machine on the same product for a longer time period.

Web exclusives also allow Bandai to predict consumer demand much more precisely than standard releases. Because orders gradually slow down near the end of a pre-order window, Bandai can gradually adjust their production capacity gradually to meet demand dead-on. Retailers order standard release products in batches, also based on pre-orders, but retailers can only guess how much customers may want before they order, and then pass that information onto Bandai, and then hope that Bandai can meet that amount.

Standard releases are much messier. Bandai gets to keep less revenue, which means higher quantities need to sell to recuperate product development costs, and that just doesn't make much sense. So, naturally, Bandai pushes more web exclusives and, fortunately, is also increasing overseas access to Premium Bandai web store.

Blame Abe for the inflation. Printing money like crazy isn't good for anyone.
As a consumer, I'm absolutely outraged and disgusted by the current market.
However you're missing the bigger picture. It's about profit, not pleasing the masses.
Before you say "wtf how is selling less items is profitable?" Think.
There's a thing called production cost. It's better to sell 500 of something, at a high price. Than to produce 5000, sell it cheap, and even risk not selling half of it.

This is also the reason why bandai went full p-bandai lately.
I understand it, they minimize losses while maximizing profit. But it doesn't mean I don't absolutely hate it. It's a rich man's world, and an average otaku with student loan and a part time job is hardly rich. This is good for the manufacturer, but ultimately bad for the consumer.

I had to cancel most orders because prices got so high. Just cannot risk all the delays piling up into one month like they always do.

And since I enjoy painting my own figures much more these days I prefer to invest spare cash in kits and paints and other garage kit gear.

Also I feel like the prices got higher but the quality didn't change a bit since 2012. Seeing 15k+ top-tier PVC makes me cringe at times because I feel I can do a better job painting a recast copy for much less cash.

Tiamat26 (1 year ago) #27805727I guess that everything is relevant to when you started to collect. Some people have not seen the price increase as much as others. I also only collect scale figurines so I have not kept tract to see if Figma's or Nendo's have gone up dramatically either.
My solution as I mentioned was to only buy certain figurines and add others to my wish list. if the ones on the wish list come down to a decent enough price point I may pull the trigger.
I wanted to thank everyone thus far for their responses to the question.
= )
Tia

Figma prices have gone way up alonside a massive loss of accessories and some even lack a decent assortment of hand parts; they usually drop 1-2k or more on the aftermarket.

Nendoroid prices have increased, but they usually stay the same or increase in price after release.

I guess that everything is relevant to when you started to collect. Some people have not seen the price increase as much as others. I also only collect scale figurines so I have not kept tract to see if Figma's or Nendo's have gone up dramatically either.

My solution as I mentioned was to only buy certain figurines and add others to my wish list. if the ones on the wish list come down to a decent enough price point I may pull the trigger.

I wanted to thank everyone thus far for their responses to the question.

I started buying a few years before you with a similar learning curve. I remember ordering ITEM #4322 in 2009, she's 1/7 scale. In the data base MFC has her at 12,800 with shipping, she was too large for small packet, and taxes (although I don't remember if I had to pay custom), she was quite expensive. MFC has her owned by 594 collectors (although she was re released in 2011) it is quite high number. Popular good looking figures, even if pricey, will sell in high numbers. ITEM #78585 is another example of an expensive figure who sold extremely well.

I also believe that the average quality of figures has gone up over the years and that we see proportionally more elaborate figures. This come with a price. Unfortunately the CNY (where the vast majority of figures are made) is now on average 10% more in JPY than when I bought Fate. To compound the price increase for us (in Canada), the JPY to CAD has increased 14.5% during that time!

Are the figure today more expensive? Yes, but less than one can think. How much more can figures sell, I cannot answer but I believe we will continue to see price increase.

The price ranges for the new stuff makes me loose interest in new items, watching the prices rise for figures has me wanting to find an exit from this Hobby since it's gotten to where it's hard to afford it even with the strict budget management I have for this hobby now and I'm like you wondering how much longer does this Hobby have before everyone gets out of it due to it getting so expensive.

Pricing killed my interest in this Hobby,that's why I don't look at the figures anymore and I find myself thinking about when it was 2005 or so when it was VERY Affordable and could get stuff without worrying about it costing so much.

At the rate of the price increase on figures I just decided it's better to stick to Transformers Action figures and I'm surprised that those figures are rising in price too.

I remember a time when Transformers were $9.99 at the store and now the Deluxes cost almost $15.99-$20.00 and It feels like everything is rising in cost to the point it's not that fun to collect anymore.

Just sucks to see rising prices for figures but everything is rising in price so it's not just Figures it's other things like Food and the day to day costs so I have a feeling things won't last for long with the way the prices are rising fast.

I have only bought 3 scales and 1 statue this year. 2 of them were impulse buys that i regret now T~T (If anyone wants some highschool dxd figs, im here xD). Things are just too expensive and boring. I have no idea why the price has shot up so much. I don't think the quality rise to cost rise ratio is proportionate